1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to a cover for vehicle beds. The cover is preferably elevated or raised, opens lengthwise, is easily removable and installable even by one person, and is adjustable for different lengths, widths, and types of vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
Note that the following discussion refers to a number of publications by author(s) and year of publication, and that due to recent publication dates certain publications are not to be considered as prior art vis-à-vis the present invention. Discussion of such publications herein is given for more complete background and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are prior art for patentability determination purposes.
Traditional truck bed covers are difficult to remove, and difficult to store once removed. Current designs also allow limited access to the truck bed contents when the truck cover is attached, particularly those utilizing a hinge or fastener attached near the cab, thus severely limiting the usable and accessible space under the cover. Items near the cab are difficult to reach using these covers. These types of covers are also very expensive due to the design and material type used for fabrication. The following are examples of such truck bed covers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,309 to Jordan, entitled “Rigid Low Profile Pickup Tonneau”, issued Feb. 2, 1993, discloses a cover with three rectangular panels, and a longitudinal hinge in the middle of the cover. The third panel extends outside of the truck bed when the tailgate is open.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,394 to Macomber, entitled “Truck Cargo Bed Cover”, issued May 23, 1989, describes a longitudinally hinged truck bed cover with removable panels. This cover also has removable hinges and separate hinges.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,691 to Henderson, entitled “Compartmentalized Storage Container”, issued Oct. 21, 2003, discloses a cover which includes a longitudinally, or horizontally hinged cover with a removable storage assembly beneath it. This cover also uses an L-shaped flange, and is designed to hold the removable storage assembly.
The TAFCO Scott-Top is a flat pickup bed cover that is made of galvannealed steel. It has two longitudinal hinges with a flat section in the middle.
The following covers consist of two panels and piano hinges: U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,881 to Tucker, entitled “Flip Hatch Tonneau Cover”, issued Jun. 20, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,806 to Bogard, entitled “Pick-up Truck Tonneau Cover”, issued Jul. 4, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,103 to Shultz et al., entitled “Hinged Tonneau Truck Bed Cover With Bed Divider”, issued Apr. 17, 2001; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,602 to Bogard, entitled “Pick-up Truck Lightweight Cargo Cover”, issued May 8, 2001 that also includes lightweight panels.
Prior art references with three hinged panels, primarily horizontally hinged and not raised or elevated are: U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,639 to Branting, entitled “Trailer Hitch Enclosure Device”, issued Aug. 27, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,051 to Miskowic, entitled “Truck Bed Cover”, issued Aug. 22, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,559 to Steffens et al., entitled “Folding Cargo Bay Cover For Pickup Truck”, issued Feb. 18, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,326 to Henderson, entitled “Tonneau Cover and Loading Ramp Assembly”, issued Mar. 4, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,296 to Kooiker, entitled “Folding Cover For Pickup Truck Bed”, issued Mar. 5, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,439 to Crossman, entitled “Hanging Storage Unit For A Truck Cargo Bay”, issued Dec. 4, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,468 to Steadman, entitled “Cover Apparatus”, issued Oct. 16, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,541 to Hoff, entitled “Truck Bed Cover”, issued Jan. 23, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,900 to Kooiker, entitled “Foldable Cover With Integral Hinge for Pickup Truck Bed”, issued Jan. 9, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,428 to Ericson et al., entitled “Foldling Cover For The Bed Of A Pickup Truck”, issued Jun. 27, 1995; U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,093 to Repetti, entitled “Hinged Cover For Pick-Up Trucks”, issued Feb. 11, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,636 to Deeds, entitled “Folding Cover For Truck Bed”, issued Feb. 2, 1982; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,493 to Albrecht et al., entitled “Panel Latching and Locking Apparatus For Modular Pickup Truck Bed Cover Systems”, issued Sep. 27, 1983. These references also include the following U.S. Patent Applications: U.S. 2001/0035664 to Steffens et al., entitled “Folding Cargo Bay Cover For Pickup Truck”, filed Jun. 27, 2001 and published on Nov. 1, 2001; U.S. 2003/0184115 to Armstrong et al., entitled “Multi-panel Tonneau Cover”, filed Aug. 17, 2001 and published on Oct. 2, 2003; and U.S. 2003/0057725 to Hernandez et al., entitled “Vehicle Structure”, filed Oct. 26, 2001 and published on Mar. 27, 2003.
There is a need for a vehicle bed cover that is elevated or raised to provide more storage space, provides easy access to the entire bed area, is lightweight, and is easily installed and removed.